Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas condemned on Friday Israeli settlers for torching a mosque in the northern West Bank village of Aqraba before dawn, accusing the Israeli army of providing protection for them to carry out attacks against citizens.
"Torching the mosque is a crime. The serious crimes committed by the terrorist settlers are carried out under the eyes and protection of the Israeli occupation forces," Abbas said in a statement.
“This is not the first time that settlers burn mosques and churches in the occupied Palestinian territories,” Abbas added.
“The incident confirms that these heinous crimes by the terrorist settlers… are being carried out under the eyes of the Israeli army,” he asserted.
The Palestinian government will resort to international institutions "to ensure that these terrorists are punished and the holy sites of the Palestinian people are protected," he noted.
Israeli settlers set fire to a mosque in Aqraba and sprayed racist slogans on its walls early Friday morning.
Security camera footage showed two masked men pouring what seems to be flammable liquid at the entrance to the mosque and setting it on fire before fleeing the scene.
Local residents saw slogans reading "Death" and "Price Tag" sprayed on the external walls of the mosque.
According to Israel’s Ministry of Public Security (MOPS), at least 53 mosques and places of worship have been desecrated or burned from 2009 to 2017 in the West Bank.
The Ramallah-based Palestinian government likewise condemned the attack, accusing its Israeli counterpart of “sponsoring settler terrorism”.
“The cabinet of Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu is one of Israel’s most pro-settlement governments ever,” Palestinian government spokesman Yusuf al-Mahmoud said in a statement.
He reiterated his call on the international community to "immediately act on the implementation of international laws and provide international protection for the Palestinian people, land and holy sites”.
